My notebook makes BSODs and I need help analyzing the Minidumps.

A four year Toshiba R500 old laptop that has been upgraded to Windows 7 Pro 32 Bit has been causing some trouble.
It takes for ever to boot, so I don't turn it off anymore. It's basically a file server now and a remote access point to my home network.
For some time there has been a dll-error popping up (MSVCP71.dll error when starting Google Chrome or Opera). I've researched it, applied the various fixes but it did not help.

Tonight, it has started throwing Blue Screens.

I install all the updates that Dear Mr. Microsoft offers me.
I defrag, cclean and backup and do everything else under the sun to keep my Windows tidy and my nerves calm.
My PC knowledge is moderately advanced.

About the BSODs:
I have those minidumps. But frankly I am no expert in their analysis and right now I lack the resources for becoming one.

Question:
Are the Blue Screens are caused
by software trouble (as indicated by the dll error) or
by hardware failure as indicated by the slow start up and general sluggishness (RAM or HD error, failing mainboard or something like that).

Thanks, but this does not help.
I cannot reproduce the BSOD, I don't have time to wait and - frankly - I was hoping for a little more hands-on advice.
I do not want to sound ungrateful or unreasonably demanding but I have received such advice in the past on this forum.

In any case I am attempting a non-destructive reinstall right now to see if it fixes the issues.

Nirsoft has a tool named BlueScreenView that makes it easier to determine the root cause of a BSOD. You can download and install it. BlueScreenView will detect your minidump file and load it for you to view, and displays the file(s) that triggered the BSOD. I have used it several times to find the 'needle in the haystack' that needed to be addressed to bring Windows back to stability. It is a very good program to use if your BSOD is caused by a faulty driver.

Try an app like BlueScreenView and it will give some information on what is causing that, namely the file involved (dll, driver, whatever). The BSOD can be caused by an hardware failure or a software issue. An hardware issue will cause software failures, so it's hard to know if there is hardware involved. Of course, if the BSOD is being caused by a driver, it's the driver or the related hardware, but other than that, it can be pretty hard to identify the specific origin, if hardware related, other than by testing a specific hardware component, such as memory.

Thanks for the links and tips. I got two different errors: BAD_POOL_CALLER and KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
Well, the non-destructive reinstall did not bring much improvement --> the dll error was still there and I did not want to wait for another BSOD.
Meanwhile, the CD-ROM drive gave out. It's not recognised anymore, i.e. it does not appear in MyComputer.

So I did a total reinstall (from USB).
Well, I guess this one does not have much life left.
I thought about buying a new HD and RAM but it just isn't worth it.